American Bred REDONE Episode 5: Teacher Doctor Scientist
by American Companion
Summary: After two months of adventures and homeschool, the Doctor decides that it's high time Kathryn went to Atlantis. Unfortunately, all the brilliance on Atlantis gives Kathryn an inferiority complex, and the Doctor's actions don't help her much, nor does one student's attempt to impress the Doctor and gain a spot in the TARDIS himself.
1. Introduction: The Passage of Time

"Hang on, it's loading…no, wait, it died. No it didn't, it's still working. Ah-ha!" The Doctor frowned in puzzlement. "Wait a moment…what's 'Action Shot?'" He frowned, but it was a slightly perplexed frown. "How many settings does this thing have?"

Kathryn sighed and got down off the rock she was sitting on. She took the digital camera from the Doctor. Pressing a few buttons, she set it to 'Outdoor + Portrait' and took a picture of the couple who owned the camera.

Handing it back to them, she blinked at the Doctor, more than a little amused. "How can someone as old and technically minded as you not know how to work a digital camera?"

"There are too many buttons!" the Doctor protested. "In a few hundred years, they set themselves automatically, and it's not old enough to be of any interest. Now, the ones where you use magnesium powder…those are easy to work."

Kathryn smiled. "You can be so entertaining sometimes."

She turned back up the trail. "Come on; I'll race you to the top."

* * *

Kathryn looked at the Doctor's make-shift tranquilizer dart with worry. "Has this ever worked? I mean, with a dinosaur this size."

"Never failed me before," the Doctor told her with confidence. She nodded, loaded it into her hand gun, rolled out from behind the box and took the shot. The ten-foot velociraptor looked down at the dart in its chest, gave a sound that was a cross between a whirr and a chirp, and pulled out the dart. It hissed loudly at Kathryn, taking a firm step forward.

"Doctor!" Kathryn yelled, glancing at him as she backed up. "You said it never failed!"

"I never tried it before!"

"Thanks for the heads up!"

There was a tremendous crash and Kathryn jumped as the dinosaur's head landed at her feet. It took a moment before she realized that the velociraptor was asleep.

The Doctor stood up and came next to her. He grinned. "Told you it would work."

* * *

The Doctor faced the man in the lab coat. If the Doctor had been any less of a genius, he'd never have thought Dr. Worthington was the one behind the decline of the colony. Dr. Worthington calmly loaded his small gun, speaking in a steady, warm tone.

"I've studied human minds all my life, Doctor, and I've discovered something very important in all that time."

"Probably nothing I haven't heard before," the Doctor answered, his eyes never leaving the man's face. Dr. Worthington continued as though he'd never been interrupted.

"People can be divided into three groups. Those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who wonder what happened." He raised his gun, aiming it at the Doctor.

"Congratulations on being the captain of the third group."

Dr. Worthington frowned, not understanding. The Doctor nodded to somewhere behind him.

Dr. Worthington turned around to see who the Doctor was looking at. He collapsed as a fist collided with his jaw.

The Doctor walked over, picking up the gun with disgust and flinging it off to the side. He looked up at the person who had hit Dr. Worthington.

"Is your hand alright?"

"Yeah," Kathryn said, shaking her hand. "Guy's head is harder than yours, but I'll live."

* * *

The Good Father Alonzo cried out as the impressively massive, impossibly intricate, incredibly old, and inconceivably expensive stain glass window shattered. At his side the Doctor watched silently with him as a dark shape streaked across the floor to the bell tower stairs, hotly pursued by Kathryn, who was wielding a thick fence post.

Father Alonzo looked absolutely horrified. The Doctor leaned over towards him. "She's an American," he told the Father, a shrug in his voice.

Father Alonzo closed his mouth, swallowing hard. "Oh," he said simply, unable to make any other sound.

* * *

"Duck and cover!"

Kathryn and the Doctor threw themselves to the ground as the Computer Hub exploded behind them, sending pieces of twisted metal flying. Before the smoke had quite cleared, they were standing and back in the room. They looked around.

"Kathryn, I'm not sure how, but I'm pretty sure that that was entirely your fault."  
Kathryn nodded. "Yeah, it probably was." She coughed, waving her hand to try and clear the smoke. "Worked though."

"I'll give you that."

Kathryn and the Doctor pelted down the hallway, running from the angry aliens pursuing them.

"Doctor," Kathryn questioned, "do you even know where we're going?"

"Not a clue," he answered, turning a sharp left. "But we're taking the short cut."

"Thanks," Kathryn told him sarcastically. "That makes me feel so much better."

"Don't worry, I've got a plan."

They turned another corner, coming across a room full of shipping crates. The sounds of the attackers grew swiftly louder behind them.

"Get in," the Doctor ordered, lifting the lid to one of the crates. Having no other option, Kathryn did as told. The Doctor crawled in after her.

"This is your plan?" she asked incredulously.

"It's in development," the Doctor hissed back.

* * *

"Do you really trust that man?"

Kathryn looked at the middle-aged gentleman with her. She didn't blame his skepticism. After all, he'd been through a lot for a medieval man, and with the Doctor being his usual self no matter when they were, it was little wonder the man hadn't run off long ago.

"He's come through most of the time," Kathryn reassured him as she hot-wired the machine in front of her. "He'll come through again. Just pull the lever."

"What's going to happen?" he asked, worried. Kathryn stood and looked at him solemnly.

"Have you ever been stabbed in the heart with a hot poker?"

"No…"

"Had staples put in your eye at high velocity?"

"No…"

"Had your innards torn out by a wild animal?"

The man looked genuinely worried now. "No…"

"Been slowly crushed between two large magnets?"

"No."

Kathryn's face split in a grin. "Good! Neither have I. Pull the lever."

* * *

The TARDIS door flew open as Kathryn and the Doctor dashed inside. They whirled around and slammed it behind themselves, leaning against it. The Doctor looked down at Kathryn.

"I thought you said you could fence!" he said incredulously.

"So did you!" she shot back.

"They're pandas!"

Something hit the door with a solid thud. A large black paw shot inside, scoring the inside of the door as the beast it was attached to it growled loudly. Kathryn used her elbow to deal the paw a sharp blow. It vanished as the panda howled in pain.

Hurriedly locking the door, Kathryn and the Doctor ran for the console.

"How did we get beaten by a pack of bears?" Kathryn asked as TARDIS rocked from side to side from the force of angry pandas.

"Well for one," the Doctor answered her, "they didn't fight fair. The sniper koalas were a bit much."

"I didn't even think they could handle crossbows."

"Fairly well, actually, considering there's an arrow lodged in your boot."

Kathryn's eyes widened and she looked down at her left heel. True to his word, there was indeed a large arrow stuck in Kathryn's shoe.

"I liked these!" Kathryn exclaimed as the TARDIS vanished yet again into the vortex.

* * *

Kathryn looked at the star charts spread out on the table in the observatory. The Doctor was letting her choose the next place to go, but only if she could figure out how to get there through space rather than time. She also had to know the travel time at different speeds, what would be required for the journey, what they would need to know when they got there, the best time to go, and hundred other details.

She scratched a few more notes down the legal pad at her elbow, then jumped slightly when the Doctor spoke at her side.

"Figured it out yet?"

"Nearly." Kathryn pointed over a nearby table with her pencil. "I've got the history report over there for you to read."

"And what did you decide?"

She wrinkled her nose impudently. "You'll have to read it. What was my grade on the language paper?"

"The usual."

"Yes!" Kathryn did a quick fist pump. The Doctor shook his head.

"You could do those in your sleep and you still ask."

"Habit," she instantly responded. "Kids at my school used to steal my work. Severely irritating. Although," she mused, "once I caught on, I started writing bad and/or wrong papers, and turned in the good stuff the day it was due. The thefts went down after that." Kathryn grinned up at him. "But on the other hand, these subjects are so much more fun."

The Doctor smiled back down at her and picked up the paper on the way out. Kathryn watched him leaving, studying him closely, and then flipped a page before hurriedly scratching some new figures down.

* * *

*Constructive criticism welcome, praise happily accepted, flames not wanted*


	2. Chapter 1

The Doctor stood in front of Kathryn's bedroom door. There was light flickering out around the bottom of it. Same as there had been the last five nights.

It was extremely odd, considering. Over the roughly four months he had known her Kathryn consistently insisted that she didn't need much sleep, and the Doctor was equally insistent that she get it. It was true that she needed less now than she had when she was still human; after all, being unable to stop absorbing energy straight out of the air around you did wonders at keeping you active. Still, she wasn't even fifteen and a half. The young red-headed American had to get some form of rest.

So why was she staying up so late?

The Doctor tapped on the door. A whirring he hadn't even noticed before stopped suddenly. There was the sound of a sheet being thrown over something and hurried footsteps. A momentary pause, then Kathryn opened her door and stepped out.

The Doctor's eyebrows went up. While Kathryn made it perfectly clear she never cared what she looked like, she was abnormally disheveled. Her shoulder-length cedar hair was sticking up and out at odd angles, and her bright green eyes were open just a little too wide.

"Did we land?" she asked as he observed all of this. "I didn't hear the engines."

"No, we're still in the Hour Glass Nebula," the Doctor answered. "I just wanted to see if everything was alright."

Kathryn gave him a look. "I'm fine, thanks," she told him hesitantly before peering at him. "Are you okay? You don't usually ask unless a mine blew up next to me or something equally dangerous has just occurred."

The Doctor shrugged. "You've been up late the past few nights. Just checking."

"Meh," Kathryn said with a shrug. "Plant stuff. I'm working on a new strain of Vroxi we found on Titan XII. They don't like the Zrailian Bug Catchers, but the Uthrian Rhubarb won't accept them as next door neighbors either."

The Doctor gave Kathryn a look. "I think you're a little too worried about those plants of yours. Too much time with them or something."

"I like my plants, thank you very much," Kathryn said with one of her tones. "I shall spend time tending to them if it pleases me."

The Doctor smiled at her. "Alright. Just make sure you sleep at some point."

"Will do."

Kathryn vanished back inside her room. The whirring started up again as the Doctor left.

* * *

A few days later, he stared in puzzlement at his closet. Usually, he had a few t-shirts, ties of every design and color, and blue or brown pin-stripe suits hanging up. But for whatever reason, he'd suddenly acquired a set of purple clothes.

He took out the purple suit. The stripes were in varying shades of purple, most of them dark, with a tie bearing lavender swirls on a dark background. The undershirt for it was actually a bright green, which surprised him slightly. Still, it was a well-made suit. Upon inspection, the Doctor found the pockets to be bigger on the inside, the same way all his other clothes came.

"Are you trying to play mind games with me?" he said out loud, knowing only the TARDIS could hear him. She responded in her usual manner, sending him feelings to tell him her thoughts.

"Then where did this…" The Doctor's voice trailed off as realization dawned.

"Kathryn." He reexamined the suit. "I didn't even know she could sew." He thought about that for a moment. "I didn't even think she'd bother learning."

The Doctor put on the suit then examined himself in the full-length mirror. The new suit fit perfectly.

"She's good too," he said with no small amount of admiration. "Wonder what the reason is."

* * *

Kathryn was sitting at the kitchen table, a mug of coffee sitting in front of her and a bowl of pears next to that. She was swinging her legs back and forth as she read from a rather thick book. The Doctor paused next to her, looking over her shoulder.

"Temporal Physics and Their Application in Real Life Situations: Volume One." He shifted his gaze to her. "Rather heavy reading so early in the day."

"It's interesting," Kathryn said, swallowing her mouthful of pear. "Besides, if I live in a time ship I should have some idea of how it works. TARDIS suggested it."

"You talk to my ship?" the Doctor said in surprise. Kathryn looked up at him, her eyes reproachful.

"She's not 'your' ship Doctor. She doesn't belong to you. TARDIS is her own person and could just have easily chosen someone else to let steal her."

"She told you about that?"

"Yep." Kathryn picked up a fresh piece of fruit and held it up to the Doctor. "Pear?"

He made a face. "No. I hate pears."

Kathryn's eyes danced at some private joke as she bit into it herself. The Doctor crossed over to the stove, pouring hot water into a mug to make tea. He took the lid off of a tall pot on the back of the stove.

"What is this?"

"A percolator," Kathryn said. "Leave it alone. It's the only thing you have hidden around here that makes decent coffee."

"Are you still drinking it black?"

"No other way to have it," Kathryn said, lifting the mug up. "High octane, as my female guardian used to say." She grimaced in pain, though it could have just been the heat of the liquid. She set her mug back down, clearing her throat. The Doctor could see it still bothered her to call the people who had been her parents 'guardians.' She looked at him in expectation. "So where are we going today?"

The Doctor didn't answer right off as he put sugar and milk into his tea and sat down across from her. "I was thinking," he said slowly as he took a long drink, "about taking you to Atlantis."

Kathryn's eyes widened in amazement. "Atlantis was real?" she breathed. The Doctor smiled, enjoying her wonder and excitement almost more than she was.

"Of course it was. They had their own language. Extremely simple and elegant as languages go. However, I wasn't really referring to Atlantis the island. There were…complications with it."

"Complications?"

"Cracks in time made the whole thing sink at every moment of its existence," the Doctor said, waving the topic away with his tone. "I had nothing to do with it. Well, not much. Anyway," he said, clearing his throat and swallowing more tea. "I was thinking about Atlantis the planet." He drank down what was left in his cup. "Finish your breakfast; it's time for another flying lesson."

* * *

Kathryn met him in the console room forty-eight seconds later, smiling and ready to go. "So, what's today's lesson?"

"Parking. Still."

Kathryn's shoulders drooped slightly. "Again?"

"It's going to be parking until you can stop landing around things and start landing next to them," the Doctor told her, though his attempt at being strict didn't really work. "Come stand over here."

Kathryn instantly complied. The Doctor was slowly teaching her the fine art of flying TARDIS, and she absorbed everything. She also took more shortcuts and broke more rules than he did, but she could fly TARDIS decently well. Kathryn simply had problems landing the Type-40.

The Doctor pointed to several things, explaining what they were as he did so. "Now, I've already put in the exact co-ordinates for a place on the planet that won't have any trees and shouldn't have people, but this meter here will give you your proximity to objects."

"Will it tell me what the objects are?"

"No. The TARIDS used to have—"

"TARDIS," Kathryn interrupted. The Doctor glared at her.

"Will you stop doing that?" he said. She stared fearlessly back at him.

"No. She's a person; get it right."

"I call myself 'the Doctor.' It's a name, and so is 'the TARDIS.' Now pay attention."

"If you'd just kept the manual…"

"And I told you, the manual is wrong." The Doctor paused. "What was I on about again? Right, the proximity meter. The TARDIS has one someplace, but I think it broke and I never really got around to fixing it. But there is a secondary proximity meter that you can use instead," the Doctor told Kathryn, pointing to what looked like a square radar screen. "The central green square is the TARDIS; anything she's materializing next to will show up as a red border. As I said, there shouldn't be much of anything nearby, but keep an eye on it anyway." The Doctor looked at Kathryn. "What's your question?"

Kathryn didn't bother asking how the Doctor knew she wanted to ask something. "How do I keep landing around things and not just making them dematerialize and disintegrate when I land on the space they occupy?"

"This button here," the Doctor said, pointing to what looked like a white button you'd find in an old arcade in bad need of new games. "It's the safety, and it's always on. Good thing to, or that one man wouldn't be around anymore."

Kathryn had the decency to flush a slight purple color, but it faded almost instantly. "Is that all for today?"

The Doctor thought for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, that's all I have for now."

"Good." Without further warning, Kathryn grabbed the starting lever and yanked it down, sending the TARDIS hurtling through the vortex.

* * *

Kathryn pulled herself up from the floor, her eyes snapping playfully at the Doctor across the console. "At least I didn't wrap us around anything."

"True," the Doctor said, grunting slightly as he stood. "But it could have been smoother."

"What, you have something against white vortex rafting?" Kathryn asked. She danced her way to the door, grabbing her Gallifreyan messenger bag off the coat rack and slinging it across her body. She flung the double doors open and stepped out.

With a cloud of white dust, she disappeared.

The Doctor walked calmly to the door and leaned against the threshold, looking down at his young friend. She coughed and he waited for her to realize what she was waist deep in.

"Chalk dust?" she said incredulously, gripping the TARDIS doors to hold herself up somewhat. "Where does someone get a mountain of chalk dust?"

"From chalk," the Doctor said, helping her up enough to sit on the edge of the floor. "Now, Kathryn, I want you to watch the horizon."

Kathryn did as she was told, staring out at the edge of the sky, which was starting to turn gray. The three moons were at various stages of waxing and waning, and the stars were bright. All of this was rapidly fading however.

Slowly the sun rose, revealing the landscape below. Kathryn stared in absolute wonder, her breath catching in her throat.

"Kathryn Moore, welcome to Atlantis."

Kathryn stared in awe at the buildings, the architecture ranging from everywhere and when. She could see a Roman Coliseum, the Temple of Athena, the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, a Cathedral, the Empire State Building, the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, the Twin Towers. Every great wonder that had ever existed since man started to build seemed to be there. At the center of all this majesty, there was a collection of buildings, built gothic style.

"What is this place?" Kathryn asked in amazement. "It's…it's gorgeous!"

"It's a university," the Doctor told her. "The university of universities. Highly selective of its students, solely a place of learning. All the extra buildings—all the ones that we've seen in their original habitats—were either recreated or moved here. To even be part of the general staff, you have to have a Masters in something. No one here ever applies, whether to teach or attend. You get asked. To teach here now, you have to have graduated from here. To attend as a student, you must have a minimum of three degrees, not including the one you get from the first four years of college."

"Why all the architecture?" Kathryn questioned. "They can't all be classrooms."

"All the extra buildings—all the ones that we've seen in their original habitats—were either recreated or moved here," the Doctor explained. "Either for study or preservation or both. It just made sense."

"If everyone here is a doctor, and they've probably all been professors, what do they call teachers?"

"Masters at Craft, or M. C. for short. You can't just come when you're smart, or even brilliant. You have to be a complete genius. I come when I feel lonely."

Kathryn took a deep breath to make a retort and remembered the chalk. "Why do they still use chalk? We have to be well past the creation of telepathic display circuitry."

"The blackboard is reminiscent of the first school days. Adds a scholarly air to the whole place. This is where they take the powder after cleaning erasers."

A strange excitement flared up in Kathryn's chest. "We'd better get down." She started to get up, but the Doctor placed a heavy hand on her shoulder.

"You know Kathryn, I just swept in here," he said casually, but with a slightly wicked note to his voice. "I really think you should take the long route."

Before Kathryn could utter a word of protest, the Doctor pushed her out the door of the TARDIS and she started rolling down the side of the chalk dust mountain.

* * *

*Constructive criticism welcome, praise happily accepted, flames not wanted*


	3. Chapter 2

Kathryn eventually stopped rolling. She flopped onto her stomach, coughing and spitting out chalk paste. Her eyes were full of the white powder, so she fumbled blindly through her bag for her metal water bottle. She finally located it and un-screwed the lid, pouring it into her mouth and rinsing. She then proceeded to gulp down half of it before pouring part of what was left over her face.

Kathryn was in the process of wiping her face off with an equally filthy shirt when she realized that someone was watching her. She looked up to see a man standing only a few feet away. He was rather attractive, with sandy blond hair and green eyes, though she guessed his age to be about 40. He was giving her the most curious look.

Kathryn sniffed, then met his eyes with a determined glint to them. "Kathryn Trouble Moore, Chalk Inspector," Kathryn said, telling the first story that came to her head. "Did you know that a school this size is required to have a grade of at least A-2? This dust is at best A-6. I'll have to fine you for it."

The man gave a quick blink. "You'd have to speak to one of the M.C.s about that. I'm just a first-year professor."

Kathryn shrugged. "Nah, too much bother. Besides, I was lying. I don't even know if chalk has grades."

The man scowled. "Then what are you doing here?"

"I was in the area and decided to pop in." Kathryn wrinkled her nose. "Sort of. My flight instructor decided that this would be a good place to come and thought it would be funny to push me out the door for an impromptu roll down Chalk Hill." She tilted her head to the side. "What's your name, stranger?"

The man blinked again. Kathryn thought it looked more like a nervous twitch. "Robert Whiting."

Kathryn waited for a beat. "What, no string of impressive letters?"

"They become redundant very swiftly, and letters have less meaning here than they do in most places." He still seemed wary of Kathryn's presence. "Why are you really here?"

"Visiting. My guardian suggested it, so we decided to stop in for a spell. Hey, where do they park aircraft around here? Or spaceships."

"Twenty miles to the North at the Space Center."

Kathryn thought about that, then shook her head. "Nah, he'd be closer. I'll find him at some point."

"Not much of a guardian if he allows you such freedom at your age," Whiting said. He looked Kathryn up and down. "How old are you? You're a bit young to be looking at universities, much less this one."

"I'm fifteen."

"Fifteen!"

"Don't knock it!" Kathryn admonished. "Short of acne, fifteen's a great age, especially if you've already graduated from high school."

Whiting seemed to warm a little towards Kathryn upon receiving that piece of information. "Really? Then someone like you must have already thought of what you want to do with your life. Tell me—" he said, motioning for her to follow him—"what's your focus?"

"I've got a Bachelors in Evolutionary Linguistics," Kathryn told him. "Well, almost. One week out I got permanently sidetracked."

"Sidetracked?"

"Yeah…long story," Kathryn said, then changed the subject. "Anyway, I still like language, but right now you could say I was in Temporal Physics and Navigation. Oh, and history. Heavy on the history. Stuff with computers. But mostly temporal stuff."

"The Temporal Arts?" Whiting confirmed, sounding suspicious. "How were you able to procure a license to study Temporal Arts at fifteen? Most can't secure it until twenty-one at the earliest."

"In my life, it's a sort of a must," Kathryn said. "See, I didn't even know time travel existed, and then the Doctor showed up and—"

"The Doctor?"

Kathryn nodded. "Yeah. Anyway, the Doctor showed up and then he decided to teach me—"

"Pardon me, but you did say _the_ Doctor?"

Kathryn looked at Whiting curiously. "Yeah, but don't all you people here have doctorates in something?"

"Yes but…but _the_ Doctor? As in the Man with the Blue Box?"

Kathryn nodded again, slower this time. "Yes. I'm traveling with the Doctor. Why? Have you heard of him?"

Whiting's eyes widened in amazement. "Heard of him? He's a legend! Everyone on Atlantis knows who the Doctor is! He's is the biggest thing since Quantum Physics were disproved! He's the only man—"

"Disproven," Kathryn cut in, correcting the excited man's grammar.

"To ever complete seven degrees in the same year, and then turn down the position of Head Master of Craft!" Whiting continued. "He founded the Temporal Arts here on Atlantis, was the first student to ever teach here, he's created elements, and provided science with accurate drawings and descriptions of species long gone. There's an entire building dedicated to him, and the Temporal Focus Campus in the Northern Hemisphere was created to honor him!"

Kathryn's hand was suddenly seized by the excited forty year old. "And you say he's here? On Atlantis?"

"He'd better be," Kathryn said, pulling her hand away. "Or I'm going to have a few sharp words for him."

Whiting had a sudden look of realization. "You're one of the people who travel with him, aren't you? A member of the Temporal Elite?"

"A what now?"

"The Temporal Elite," Whiting repeated, emphasizing the title. "How did you ever manage it? It must be a highly selective society. How did you ever find it?"

"I shot the Doctor," Kathryn said drolly. Whiting stared at her for a moment, then laughed.

"I'm sure. But you really must tell me what happened! How do you get the position?"

Kathryn opened her mouth to answer, then decided against it. She needed to find the Doctor and she knew that if she stared answering questions now, they would never stop coming.

"Is there a particular place that the Doctor would land around here?"

"Near his museum," Whiting answered immediately. "He has a parking space there."

"I'll make you a deal," Kathryn said suddenly. "Take me there and I'll introduce you." Kathryn smiled inwardly. She'd just push all these crazy fans over on the Doctor. It would inflate his ego, but they'd probably leave sooner.

"Done," Whiting said. "This way." He took off at a run, which Kathryn easily kept pace with.

* * *

The word had already spread around the campus. A huge crowd of students, none of them under their mid-forties, were packed around the area. Jumping up, Kathryn could just make out the top of the TARDIS above the mob.

Knowing perfectly well what was going on, she tapped a nearby student on the shoulder. "What's up with the mosh pit?" she asked. The woman looked at her like she had an extra head (though in fact the woman had two).

"Haven't you heard?" the right head asked incredulously. "It's the Doctor! He's back!"

The left head peered at Kathryn. "What are you doing here? You're far too young to attend Atlantis."

"Me?" Kathryn asked innocently. "I'm here on visit. My ride is up there, if you'd let me through."

The woman's four eyes blinked, stunned. The left head looked at Whiting while the right head continued to stare at Kathryn.

"She's one of the Temporal Elite!" Whiting blurted with excitement. Several other students turned to stare at Kathryn, all of them talking.

"A Temporal Elite?"

"Can't be; she's so young!"

"Others have been younger."

"From all over time as well. She could be from the future."

"Appearances can be deceiving."

"If she's with the Doctor, why is she here instead of over by him?"

"It's not up to you to question space-time, or how to keep it in order!"

"She's covered in chalk dust. There might have been something over by Chalk Hill."

"How did you meet the Doctor?"

"Were you selected by your overall training, or does the Doctor choose you based on a specific category?"

"Did you school somewhere specific before joining the temporal elite?"

Kathryn felt closed in, suddenly surrounded by adults questioning her about things she had no answers for. Not having any other option, she shouted out,

"Doctor! You'd better get your striped suit over here or one of your fans is going to get hurt!"

Fortunately, Kathryn had used a language that had gone extinct before Earth had hit the Middle Ages, from a planet near the polar center of the universe, and TARDIS had been kind enough not to translate, so no one actually knew what she said. However, the general message was clear enough and the crowd parted as if by magic. There was a now a clear path from Kathryn to the Doctor. He looked up and over at her, smirking teasingly when he saw her chalk coated state.

"Did you have a fun trip?" he asked, grinning. Kathryn walked towards him with firm strides. Whiting had the sense to stay behind.

"No I did not, thank you very much," Kathryn said, still using the same language as before. The Doctor noticed that the TARDIS wasn't translating and fell into the same tongue.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

"Did you plan this?" she accused, gesturing around her at the masses. "I'm not big on crowds; someone usually ends up missing a limb or with all the energy sucked out of their body."

"You'll just have to make sure you keep your gloves on," the Doctor said in reference to Kathryn's permanent energy absorption. "As to the crowd, I was sure no one would remember me. It's been a bit since I was last here."

Kathryn looked pointedly at the large letters over the building behind him. "Time Lord Hall: The Life of the Doctor."

The Doctor didn't even look surprised. "Kind of nice actually; I hadn't realized I was so popular."

"Do you know what they're calling me?" Kathryn asked, not pausing for a reply. "A member of the Temporal Elite."

"Has a nice ring to it."

"The Temporal Elite? Doctor!" Kathryn exclaimed. "No! They think I joined a club and went through tests to get my 'position.'"

"You do and it is," the Doctor said plainly. "I chose who travels with me with care Kathryn."

Kathryn rolled her eyes. "Right. You asked me because I made no logical sense to you and still don't."

The Doctor's eyes twinkled. "Yeah, there's that too."

Kathryn sighed. She never could stay upset at the aggravating man for very long. "Okay, fine. Let's just keep this to less than three days, yah?" She nodded at the TARDIS door. "If you'll let me past, I'll get showered and changed. I'll be out in fifteen minutes and you can shield me from the worst of the pests." She snapped her fingers, remembering. Pointing down the aisle that was still open, she singled out Whiting.

"By the way, that's Robert Whiting. No idea what he does, but I promised I'd introduce you if he showed me to your parking spot. Which is nearly disturbing that you have one."

The Doctor chuckled as Kathryn vanished inside the TARDIS.

* * *

*Constructive criticism welcome, praise happily accepted, flames not wanted*


	4. Chapter 3

Kathryn took a deep breath, checking over herself. Usual dark long sleeved shirt, black gloves, jeans, boots. Messenger bag secure at her side with her usual various bits and bobs tucked inside. Hair tied back out of her face. She touched the string around her neck again. Couldn't go losing her rock.

She spared a moment to puzzle over it again. The Doctor had told her it was a DNA transporter, now burnt out. It had apparently been left for her so that the Rahki, the race who had created her in the first place, could retrieve her. It had gone off early and Kathryn had ended up with the Doctor instead. She should get rid of it, but she couldn't. Kathryn had tried to leave it behind, even just in her rooms, but she'd started hyperventilating before she even got to the bedroom door, terrified that something would happen to it. So, it remained permanently part of her wardrobe.

Gathering herself against clingy people, she stepped out of the TARDIS. The crowd had nearly vanished. Only a few people that Kathryn felt should be in a rocking chair on a porch someplace were still there, in deep conversation with the Doctor. They didn't even look up as she approached them.

"Then why would you be so concerned about it?" one of the men asked the Doctor.

"It's just odd," the Doctor answered. "Different. Something like that shouldn't happen or exist."

"You might want to ask Ybardolaza about the problem," another man suggested. The Doctor raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Is he still the H.M.C. here?"

"467 years old last semester," the first man told the Doctor. "He'd be overjoyed to see you."

"I think I will," the Doctor answered. Finally seeming to notice Kathryn, he grinned at her. "Ready to meet the principal?"

"Why not?" Kathryn said with a shrug. She seemed to light up slightly. "Hey, is there a Linguistics Campus near here?"

The third elderly man shook his head. "The Linguistics Sector is near the South Pole of the planet. However, we do have a first-year building not far from the center of campus. You could stop by there for a lecture if it interests you."

Kathryn nodded. "I'll do that, thanks."

"Speaking of lectures," the second man said suddenly. "Doctor, I'd be overjoyed if you'd give one at my core class."

"What's the topic?"

"Temporal Flow."

Kathryn seemed puzzled. "Time is a core class?"

The man nodded emphatically. "Certainly."

Kathryn heard the 'No duh stupid' note in his voice and let the topic drop as the Doctor accepted the invite and they continued on towards the center of the First-Year Campus.

* * *

The walk towards the office housing for the planet was much the same as the discussion outside of TARDIS. As with any school, people were always walking about. Kathryn was sure that many of them were skipping class in hopes of 'accidentally' running across the Doctor. Any teachers that they found all seemed to be past students, or children of past students, of the Doctor.

"Were you the one to make the vortex a G.E.?" Kathryn asked as another past pupil walked off. "And just how old are these people?"

"Most of them aren't human," the Doctor reminded her. "Humans have an absurdly short lifespan in comparison to most of the universe."

"So…what? You taught them a hundred years ago or something?"

"A hundred and fifty, actually, give or take a dozen years. To be honest, I also taught the current H.M.C."

"The Ybardolaza guy?"

"Yes, though don't use that tone to his face," the Doctor cautioned. "He's easy going enough, but you should still show a bit more respect than you usually deign to grant."

"I give respect to those that deserve and/or earn it," Kathryn reminded him. "You didn't answer my first question."

"No. Temporal Arts were actually more of an elective when I taught. I did create the class though."

"You would."

"Oh, I met your guide," the Doctor said, remembering. "Dr. Whiting's in genetics, specifically extinct creatures."

"Come again?"

"He studies the DNA of extinct animals and brings them back into the living animal kingdom."

Kathryn smiled in an amused fashion. "What, like the _Jurassic Park_ books?"

"Sort of. Actually, he works closely with the Temporal Campus, or will," the Doctor explained. "Part of what the Temporal Sector does is take bones of dead animals from before petrification and bring them out for people like Whiting to work with. Doesn't happen often however; there's a lot of figuring and preparation that takes place."

"And then Whiting is reduced to mosquitoes in amber, huh?" Kathryn finished. "What's the use in bringing back the Dodo, beyond a nice award?"

"I did very well with that project," the Doctor protested. "They were the pet of choice for a while."

"Wow."

The Doctor looked at her suspiciously as he opened the door to a multiple story building. "Wow what?"

Kathryn shook her head. "Just wow."

They ascended several flights of stairs before coming to a solid oak door. The Doctor paused before knocking.

"Best behavior Kathryn."

"I'll manage for five minutes," she said flippantly. "Then I'll leave you and your professor buddy in peace."

"Where were you thinking of going?"

"The Language Center, maybe check out the university library." She gave a wicked smile. "Maybe I'll tell a few of the more colorful tales from the last few months."

"Kathryn…"

"Like how you're scared of my greenhouse."

"Floyd tried to eat me last time I was in there."

"Or maybe that time you had to dress in drag to get past the border. I've got photographic evidence in my room you know, and you made a pretty convincing woman."

"You wouldn't."

"They'd look lovely in the museum," Kathryn said sweetly before knocking on the door. There was a pause, then a click as the door unlocked and opened slightly. The Doctor pushed it open and the two friends stepped inside.

It was a large office, but surprisingly earth-based in its design. It looked like any other office at a university would; large wooden desk, heavy wood door, leather chair for the teacher, smaller cloth ones for visitors, one wall lined with books, a few decorative things on the desk along with papers and pencils. Some kind of gravity defying blue lamp was floating near the desk. The one thing that set Kathryn off balance were the degrees hanging on the wall. She had expected a few degrees, but there were so many that they left no room for any sort of decorative picture. She could have wallpapered half her bedroom on the TARDIS with them.

However, the one thing that seemed to be missing was this Ybardolaza person. Kathryn was about to ask when the Doctor approached the desk, grinning.

"Ybardolaza! You're looking well."

To Kathryn's surprise, the blue lamp floated a little closer. A voice that made Kathryn think of liquid light echoed in her ears. The faint electronic flavor told her that TARDIS was translating.

"It is good to see you Teacher. You have again changed appearance."

The Doctor shrugged. "Well, life gets risky, you know. I hear you've been at the job since I left."

"Yes. It is trying at times, but I enjoy my work." The floating orb rotated slightly, and Kathryn felt as though it were looking at her. She decided that it must be Ybardolaza.

"Ah, this must be one of your 'Temporal Elite,'" the Head Master of Craft said. Kathryn heard the slight amusement in his tone, but sensed it was more for the invented title than for her.

"Yes. Kathryn Trouble Moore, Ybardolaza."

Kathryn nodded, fairly certain a handshake wasn't expected in this case. "Pleasure to meet you. You called the Doctor 'Teacher.' Are you another used to be student of his?"

"One of his first," Ybardolaza affirmed.

"Well, I'll leave the two of you to reminisce," Kathryn said. "Which way is Language from here?"

Again the liquid light voice. "Head North from here, past the Psychological Studies building, then turn right at Genetics. Continue on straight and you'll run right into it. Don't be afraid of asking someone for directions along the way if need be."

"Now where's the fun in that?" Kathryn asked as she left.

The Doctor watched her leave. Behind him, Ybardolaza spoke. "I know that expression Teacher. What can I help you with?"

The Doctor turned back to the globe. "Kathryn. I brought her here because I need to understand some things about her, and I can't do it without help."

"Shouldn't she be here then?"

"Not until I know exactly what to do about her."

* * *

*Constructive criticism welcome, praise happily accepted, flames not wanted*


	5. Chapter 4

Kathryn was making slow progress. Being so much younger than everyone else on campus and being dressed differently, she stood out absurdly well. While a good deal of them—those who read body language better than others—left her alone, they still stared. Others who ignored the 'please let me alone' way she walked, or who couldn't tell otherwise, kept coming up to her.

She wouldn't have minded so much if they didn't keep asking her how to become a member of the Temporal Elite.

Kathryn kept protesting that there was no such thing, but the students kept insisting that she could be open with her information. Through the questions asked, Kathryn gathered that everyone was convinced there was a secret society that gathered people together for the sole purpose of guarding time. Only the best of the best were chosen, and apparently the Doctor selected his traveling companions from the best of that group. The forty and fifty and sometimes sixty year olds were so convinced of its existence that Kathryn started to wonder if the group really did exist. Maybe the Doctor had just decided not to tell her.

But if he'd made that choice, did that make her a sub-par charity case? It would explain why he seemed to be teaching her in earnest about travel and history. Maybe everyone else who traveled with him already knew all of that stuff.

What if he was here looking for a more competent apprentice?

Kathryn shook the thought away. He wouldn't just swap her out for someone else. Besides, all these people, humans and aliens, were too old for all the running, and most were out of shape! Then again, the Doctor was nine hundred and three. Maybe he got sick of teenagers after a while.

Kathryn was so lost in these worrisome thoughts that she didn't hear the person speaking to her until he'd repeated her name several times.

"Miss Moore?"

She shook her head, blinking a few times. "Sorry Whiting; I was thinking about something." She frowned. "And don't call me Miss Moore. Far too formal."

Whiting looked perplexed, wyes twitching again. "Then how do I call you?"

"My name is Kathryn," Kathryn said. Whiting nodded.

"Then I shall address you as such." He gestured to a grand building up ahead. "I'm just heading for the library. Would you join me?"

Kathryn raised an eyebrow. "Aren't I just a little young for you?"

Whiting seemed mortified at the suggestion. "I didn't mean to insinuate any such thing. I do apologize—"

Kathryn waved away the protests. "Calm down Whiting! I was ribbing you. Sheesh, you college kids need to lighten up. Why are you all so tense and jumpy anyway?" Kathryn asked.

They started walking as Whiting explained. "Those of us here in the General Sector are all First Years. We've gotten our multiple degrees elsewhere, but this is our first year here at Atlantis. We go through a selection process, usually in the form of various projects, to decide how high our placement is when we get to our Sectors. It gets incredibly competitive."

"What's left for you people to learn?" Kathryn questioned. "I mean, haven't you all sat in on enough lectures?"

Whiting smiled. "They aren't exactly lectures here. More along the lines of study sessions with a main topic. We all discuss what we're currently focusing on, with our M.C.s directing the conversation."

Kathryn nodded. "Sounds like you'd learn more that way anyhow."

Whiting stepped out a little to reach the door handle and opened the library door for Kathryn. She thought about saying something, then bit her tongue.

"If I may…" Whiting started, hesitation in his voice.

_I wondered when we'd get here,_ Kathryn thought sarcastically. He'd probably been lying in wait for her since their conversation at Chalk Hill. "Go ahead and ask."

"How did you really meet up with the Doctor?"

"I told you; I shot him."

Whiting blinked. "You can't be serious."

"As a bullet."

"Why in the universe would you shoot the Doctor?" Whiting said, aghast at the thought. Kathryn shrugged.

"He got in the way."

Whiting nodded in understanding. "You must have been on a mission for the Society."

Kathryn sighed in aggravation. "There is no 'Society,' or membership, or Temporal Elite. I was sick, scared, and delusional. He looked like a threat so I shot him. He was decent enough to take me to a hospital. I gave him a hand with something and he gave me a lift. That's all!"

Whiting backed up slightly. "I meant no offense."

Kathryn relaxed. "I know. I apologize for snapping. It's just that everyone keeps asking me and acting like I'm some highly trained secret agent from the future."

Whiting turned down a row of books, looking for something. Finding what he was looking for, he pulled it off the shelf. Kathryn glanced at the title.

"DNA Coding Sequences for the Highly Advanced: Mammals," she said, reading aloud. "Recreating the saber-toothed tiger?"

Whiting shook his head absently. "No, that was done about half a century back." He paused, thinking for a brief moment. "If I might ask another question…"

"Sure. You can escort me to where ever language is around here while you're at it."

Whiting thought for a moment before leading the way. "Why do you travel with the Doctor?"

"No other place to go," Kathryn said. It felt different telling Whiting than it had admitting it to others. She felt almost ashamed.

"So you aren't selected or trained, it's just luck of the draw?"

Kathryn nodded. "I suppose so. Of course, you still have to prove yourself, to some extent. I don't think he would have asked me to join him if I was a complete imbecile. We've gone through some pretty nasty stuff together."

Whiting pointed down a row of books and Kathryn started scanning the shelves. "So if you prove yourself worthy, he'll extend the invitation?" Whiting asked.

Kathryn nodded, pulling down a book titled _Universal Codes: Common Languages Throughout Time_. "Close enough."

Kathryn realized what she'd done as Whiting fell silent. "I see," he finally said. "If you'll excuse me Miss Moore." Without waiting for a reply, he left her alone.

Kathryn felt her stomach twist unpleasantly as she shelved the book.

* * *

"It's an intriguing problem Teacher," Ybardolaza admitted.

"Intriguing isn't the word I'd use," the Doctor admonished gently. "It's threatening to her and deadly to others. I can't afford to have her constantly in this state. And then there's her mind; the knowledge must be in there, if we could only access it."

"You'll have to draw blood for the first item."

"I know," the Doctor said, sighing. "She's not going to be open to that."

Ybardolaza rose slightly then returned to his position, his version of a shrug. "That is something you'll have to take up with the girl. However, if she requires study everything on Atlantis is at your disposal."

"Thank you."

There was a knock on the door. A button on Ybardolaza's desk depressed and Kathryn walked in.

"Sorry to bother you," she said, "but I need to get something from my room on TARDIS and I don't have a key."

"There's a spare one behind the 'P' in police," the Doctor answered. Kathryn nodded thanks and started to go.

"Kathryn, hang on a moment," the Doctor called. She stuck her head back in the office.

"Yeah?"

"When you're done, meet me down at the front of the Genetics Building," the Doctor said. "I think you'd be interested in some of the things in there."

"Will do." Kathryn vanished down the hall and the door relocked itself with a sharp click.

"I feel like I'm tricking her," the Doctor said.

"As long as you own up before doing anything, it should be alright," Ybardolaza said. "You'd better go. I'll let them know you're on your way."

"Thank you."

* * *

Kathryn found the key easily enough, though she'd had to stretch. She didn't really need to get anything from the TARDIS; she just needed a moment away from people.

She felt…useless. All these people, these students, were so incredibly smart. They understood things the way the Doctor did, and purposefully followed in his footsteps. They were older, more mature, already trained, and wouldn't hesitate to join the Doctor.

Kathryn felt, for the first time, threatened. Not physically, but mentally. She knew that she was being challenged for her privilege and came up woefully short.

She took a few more minutes to breathe, then exited the TARDIS. As she put the key back, she saw the sign for the museum again. On an impulse, she went inside.

It was a surprisingly small affair, a single hall. Plaques and showcases described the Doctor's work, and one near the entrance told a bit about his origins. Nothing Kathryn didn't already know.

Along one wall were several pictures, each saying it was a portrait of the Doctor. Thing was, none of them looked like him! They all had numbers, but several numbers were missing. Did this have something to do with the change everyone kept mentioning, whatchacallit, regeneration? That's what Ace had asked the Doctor two months ago. He said yes. What was regeneration? Was it a Time Lord thing, or a temporal traveler thing?

Kathryn bet that the students on campus would know.

* * *

The Doctor was waiting for Kathryn when she walked up. He frowned slightly. Something was wrong.

"So what do I get to see?" Kathryn asked as she drew near, her eyes glinting as usual. The Doctor brushed his earlier thought away. Kathryn was never bothered by anything.

"Always something interesting going on in here," the Doctor answered brightly as they stepped inside the cool interior. "Animals in various stages of recreation, limbs being regrown, new species and variations created. And best of all, you're sharp enough to understand what's going on."

Kathryn narrowed. "A compliment. You never compliment me. What are you planning?"

The Doctor didn't have an answer, then realized she was joking. "Oh, always something to plan Kathryn. Never get bored that way."

"I have my greenhouse, you have your schemes. Fair enough." Kathryn's expression brightened. "Would they have plants here?"

"I think that there's a botany area somewhere in the building."

"Can we go there first?"

The Doctor was tempted to say yes, but shook his head. "Best for last. Besides, you'll probably take one of everything, and I'm not helping you carry it all."

The Doctor started on the grand tour, beginning with the once-extinct creatures and working his way up to current humanoids.

A woman in a long white lab coat stepped forward, smiling broadly at Kathryn and the Doctor when they walked in the door.

"Doctor! A pleasure to meet you sir," she said, seeming to be far less awed by him than everyone else on the campus. She looked down at Kathryn. Kathryn noted with some surprise that the woman was even taller than the Doctor, though not by much.

"You're Kathryn Moore I presume?"

"Yes."

"I'm Maria Ruiz," she introduced herself warmly, shaking Kathryn's gloved hand. "Humanoid Physiology M.C."

"An M.C.?" the Doctor said with surprise. "You're a little young for that, aren't you?"

"Rather rich coming from you," Maria said. "Don't think you're the only one allowed to be exceptionally brilliant. I happen to be forty-one."

"That's extremely young, even for a first-year," the Doctor said, admiration in his voice. Maria gave a self-satisfied smile. She turned back to her work space, motioning them to follow.

"Kathryn—can I call you Kathryn?—just have a seat and we'll start in."

Kathryn frowned, confused. "Start in?"

Maria looked at her with an honest, open face. "Yes. Drawing blood. For the tests." She blinked in real confusion. "Didn't the Doctor tell you?"

The Doctor watched as multiple steps of confusion and realization crossed Kathryn's face. He almost saw the wall being built before she turned to him.

"That's why we came here?" she asked in a low tone. The hurt was evident in her voice. "Not so that I could see Atlantis the great university, or meet with scholars from across the stars, or so you could say hi to old school chums, but so that you could analyze me?"

The Doctor had little choice but to admit it. "Yes. That was the core reason." Seeing the look in her eyes, he rushed to explain. "I've told you, you make no sense Kathryn. You're a strange creature that makes no sense and really shouldn't have been made the way you were. I need to know why—"

"You need to know," Kathryn said scathingly. Her voice rose in pitch and volume. "You _need_ to know? Damn it all Doctor!" She closed her eyes, breathing hard. Maria Ruiz looked almost scared, but she needn't have worried. The Doctor was on the receiving end of Kathryn's fury. He could see the color swirl start in her eyes but for some reason, instead of the multiple colors that usually came with her anger it was completely purple except for a touch of silver where her pupil should have been. Mental energy and something else. Absently the Doctor wondered what that signified.

Kathryn's voice was accusing, bringing him back to the present. "Four months. Four whole months, and I'm still just a test tube creation, an experiment gone wrong."

"You're not human Kathryn," the Doctor repeated, the same as he had every time the conversation came up. It was always a sure defense. He expected her to start in on how she was her own self, but was surprised by her answer.

"Did I ever say I was, Fly-boy?"

The name hurt worse than when she'd sworn at him. She'd given it to him back when they first met; it was a name that represented a complete lack of trust and affection.

She wasn't done yet. "Tell me once after I found out the truth—just _once_—that I said I was human."

The Doctor had no answer. Kathryn paused again, looking away.

"I'm not human. I will never again in my life be able to say that I am. But damn it all Doctor—" she repeated. She looked back at him, and he was surprised to see tears. She never cried. Her voice broke on the last word. "I'm still _me_."

Kathryn stared at him for another brief second before walking out the door.

Before it had quite closed behind her, a huge brown beast rushed past the door, thundering along. Kathryn was thrown back against the wall and the Doctor heard her arm break with a sickening crack.

* * *

*Constructive criticisim welcome, praise happily accepted, flames not wanted*


	6. Chapter 5

The Doctor dashed out in time to see the furred creature turn a sharp corner and vanished down the hall. He glanced down at Kathryn. She was also staring after the beast and gripping her left arm as though in pain.

"Get a bone mender," the Doctor called to Maria. "And call the Animal's Department as well as security. That thing needs to be rounded up."

He crouched next to Kathryn. "Let me see it."

She stood up without looking at him, focusing on her arm as she walked slowly down the hallway. After working at the bone for a moment, the Doctor heard a soft yet grating click. Kathryn flexed her hand gingerly and continued on as though nothing had happened, picking up her pace until it was a fast jog.

The Doctor followed her. "What was that?"

"A mammal."

"No, I meant with your arm. I didn't know you could do that."

"I never needed to tell you."

"You've broken bones before?" the Doctor asked in alarm.

"With the life I led?" she scoffed, deliberately using the past tense. "It's a wonder my head isn't missing."

They turned the corner to see further wreckage and claw marks in the floor. There were two men in the hallway. One had his pant leg rolled up as his friend treated a bite wound. Pus was already forming. They looked up as Kathryn and the Doctor approached.

"Did you get a good look at it?" the Doctor asked. The uninjured man nodded and stood to address the Doctor.

"It looked a great deal like a bear, but had two long canines as a walrus might and the face was squashed in slightly in a way that reminded me of a gorilla. There was a piece of…I almost want to say it was black cartilage along its head, like a dorsal fin."

The Doctor's eyebrows rose. "You're certain?"

The man nodded. "Completely."

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair, thinking for a moment before turning around back towards the entrance of the building. "Kathryn, we need to go."

He took two steps before realizing she wasn't following. He looked down at where she was crouching by the injured man. She had a piece of gauze out and a blue glass bottle of something and was busy cleaning the man's bite. The pus wiped off and the wound fizzed pink for a few moments. Using a clean piece of gauze, Kathryn wiped off the foam, leaving a visibly healing wound.

Kathryn stood, closing the bottle. Putting it back in her Gallifreyan messenger bag, she pulled out an aspirin bottle filled with small green pills and shook out two.

She gave them to the man. "Take these; don't call me in the morning."

Without acknowledging the Doctor she started running off down the hallway after the wreckage.

"Kathryn!" the Doctor called after her. "We need to let the rest of the campus know!"

"I'm not stopping you!" she shouted over her shoulder at him. "I'm following the trail of wounded!"

"Go with your friend and catch the beast," the second man said as the first helped him up. "We'll call Ybardolaza and contact our animal control."

The Doctor nodded thanks and dashed off after Kathryn, following the wreckage.

The Doctor caught up with her, but only because she was busy fixing someone's arm. The Doctor stopped and looked on in curiosity.

"What is that stuff?"

"Something I whipped up between my plants and my energy collection," Kathryn said simply. She gave the injured woman two of the green pills and started off running again. The Doctor fell into pace with her.

"What?"

"I heal rapidly because of energy," Kathryn said, speaking as though he were a simple child. "If I siphon some of it off and mix it with plant enzymes, it turns into a marvelous treatment."

"Why would you experiment with that?" the Doctor asked.

"Might as well get something out of it."

Kathryn stopped at two more injured. The Doctor waited impatiently but she paid him no attention. She started running again.

"You haven't even asked me what the animal is," the Doctor said. Kathryn shrugged.

"Does it matter? The beast is your problem."

"Ours."

"Yours."

"Oh come on Kathryn."

"No."

She stopped again. The Doctor knew that she would keep doing it. "I'll continue on then. Catch up when you can."

He waited for an answer, but none came. He took off running.

The person Kathryn was helping watched the Doctor go, then looked at Kathryn in confusion. "I thought the Temporal Elite were supposed to stick with the Doctor."

"He wouldn't want an experiment with him," Kathryn said hotly. The person let it drop. Kathryn turned to the woman sitting next to them.

"This will hurt," Kathryn said. She pulled out a small test tube and a cotton swab. Wiping off a glop of surprisingly sticky pus, Kathryn stuck it in the test tube.

"Are you his traveling nurse then?" the woman asked, teasing. Kathryn looked at her with empty eyes as the test tube went into an outside pocket of her bag.

"I'm no one."

Kathryn took off running down the trail of damaged hall.

* * *

The Doctor burst into the outside. The glass door had been completely removed. Alarms had started to blare and he heard announcements for different teams to start at certain areas of campus. He saw the faint sparkle overhead that spoke of a containment barrier around the General Sector.

He paused, wondering where the creature was headed to. The bites spoke of fear, the rapid infection more of disease. Taking a moment to wonder how Kathryn was able to treat the thing so swiftly, he returned to the current problem.

Deciding that the fastest way to solve this would to be to go to the root of the problem, he headed back into the Genetics Building, going straight for Extinct Animals.

* * *

Kathryn dashed outdoors, noting that the glass door had been completely removed. Ignoring the loud speakers, she thought carefully about what the animal was doing.

Scared and infected with something. Angry for some reason too, going by the damage to the buildings. She closed her eyes, trying to remember the campus from when she'd been wandering around earlier.

The place was layered like an onion. Dorms and houses on the outside. Several layers of classrooms next. Research buildings and library. Offices in the center.

Her mind danced back to the day she met the Doctor, but in the minutes before she'd really seen him. She'd been scared and positive she was infected. She'd lashed out, but mostly tried to run from everyone in search of a place of quiet.

The creature—Kathryn decided to call him George—would head for the center of campus, or at least end up there. Too many people elsewhere.

Kathryn pelted off towards Administration.

* * *

The Doctor found Extinct Animals to be in worse shape than the rest of the building had been. Beakers and Erlenmeyer flasks were broken, Bunsen burners had fallen over, test tubes were smashed, petri dishes and microscope slides scattered, tables flipped, and crucibles with their broken lids scattered everywhere. Chemical and DNA spills were being tended to properly. Several people looked up as the Doctor walked into the main lab.

"Oh thank goodness," one of the female students said. "Perhaps you can sort all this out."

The Doctor looked over the mess, noting the multiple, advanced, wounds. He should have bothered Kathryn for a few of those pills.

"I'm trying to figure out what happened," the Doctor told them. "Who was bringing back the Hak?"

Everyone looked at each other blankly. "None of us know," the woman said. "It just came hurtling out of the area we keep the more dangerous animals and went charging out the door and down the hall."

"Who had access to the live DNA?"

"No one. There wasn't any," a man said. "Hak are horribly dangerous and complicated creatures; we hadn't progressed that far yet. But about a decade ago, a complete skull with bits of flesh still clinging to it was found in a bog. It was, of course, brought here immediately, where it was frozen and put into storage until we could take proper measures and obtain a live sample."

"So someone's doing this illegally," the Doctor confirmed. He ran a hand through his hair. "Pleasant."

He looked around the room. Everyone was still waiting for his orders. For a moment, he really wished they didn't think so much of him.

"Those of you not taking care of chemical spills, take the injured to the Medical Section. Once the rest of you are finished, just leave. Head back to your rooms and houses."

The Doctor turned towards the gaping hole that he assumed used to be a door and stepped through it. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver, looking for anything that resembled a human or an infected beast.

Halfway down the hall he found the room that the Hak must have been in. It was even worse than the Main Lab had been. He doubted he'd find anything here.

He still gave the room a going over, turning the sonic into a flashlight. The Doctor made a face and groaned.

A body was slumped against the wall. The Doctor could see at a glance that he was badly injured.

The Doctor crouched next to the man, wondering if he was even breathing. He looked like he'd been mauled by the Hak, and his face was unrecognizable. He was certainly a student though.

Putting an ear by the man's mouth, the Doctor listened. Finally there was a rasping breath.

"You're alive," the Doctor confirmed, more from relief. "Though you won't be happy about it later."

He went back to the main room. Those running chemical control were just finishing.

"One of you get a Medical team back there," the Doctor said. "There's a badly injured someone in the room the Hak was kept in."

After getting a nod of confirmation, the Doctor left again, this time following the damage trail. He hoped Kathryn hadn't found the beast yet; she'd probably try eating it.

* * *

*Constructive criticisim welcome, praise happily accepted, flames not wanted*


	7. Chapter 6

Kathryn came up to the main Administration building, the one where Ybardolaza kept office. She smiled slightly despite what she saw. She'd been right; the door was bashed in and she could hear shattering coming from the inside. The beast wasn't that far ahead.

Kathryn sprinted inside, again following the damage. She had to find George, and then she'd hunt down Whiting. She was certain this was him. Everyone here would know not to cut corners, and everyone would know better than to get careless with an infected beast. But…if someone thought that they could impress the Doctor with a revived species—which he was working on if she believed his selection of books—and by impressing the Doctor get rid of the current friend and go traveling, they'd try anything.

She knew it was Whiting. It had to be.

Kathryn reached the third level, spotting George right off. He was busy snarling at a few administrative types running down the hall.

Desperately needing to get his attention, Kathryn put two fingers in her mouth and gave a sharp whistle. George turned around towards her, growling. Kathryn decided he wouldn't win any 'Pet of the Year' awards with that face and with the foam coming out of his mouth. His ears were pinned back.

"Didn't like that, did you buddy?" Kathryn said, grinning. She let loose with another sharp whistle. George roared, showing an absurd amount of teeth. He charged for Kathryn.

She took off running down the hall, whipping around the corner with George hot on her heels. She fumbled with her bag, searching for some kind of tranquilizer.

Unfortunately, as fast as Kathryn was George was faster. Just as unfortunately, Kathryn had reached a dead end. She spun around, cornered. George knew it and roared again. Not knowing what else to do, Kathryn whistled again. George cringed at the noise and rose up on his hind legs, thudding hard against the wood floor. It splintered beneath his feet.

Certain she looked a complete idiot, but hoping it would work, Kathryn put her fingers in her mouth and whistled again, this time jumping as she did so in the hopes George would respond to her challenge again.

Luck was on her side for once. George gave a loud roar that hurt Kathryn's ears and he rose on his hind legs. As he came down hard, the floor gave way under his feet. Both paws went through, trapping him for a moment before the rest of the floor gave way. George and Kathryn dropped through the third floor into the second, then went crashing through onto the ground floor.

* * *

The Doctor came dashing up to the Administration Building. He'd gone back out and started following the destruction trail, hunting for the Hak and for Kathryn. Whatever that medicine she'd been using was, they needed it.

He saw Kathryn through a third floor window. She was staring at something and jumping up and down. Suddenly she disappeared from view at the same time as a tremendous crash echoed out from the building.

The Doctor used his sonic to help open up a first floor window and crawled inside. "Kathryn!" he called. Hearing no reply, the Doctor started pushing aside debris.

Something furry moved and he jumped, then saw it was a hind foot. He followed the Hak's body with his eyes. There was a large piece of wood lodged in its stomach, explaining why it wasn't getting up. The Doctor continued his perusal up to its head and stood in shock.

Kathryn, who was covered in healing cuts and drying purple blood, had crawled over to the Hak and draped herself along its neck. She was stroking the thing's head, talking to it softly in a language that was mostly whirring and chirping noises. The Hak breathed heavily, then its breath slowed, eventually stopping as its eyes closed. Kathryn laid her head on the thick fur as if she was going to join it in death.

"Kathryn!"

She didn't turn to look at him for a long moment. When she did, her expression was heavily shielded.

"Are you alright?" he asked, picking his way over to her. "Nothing serious?"

"Nothing you need worry about," Kathryn answered calmly. She looked down at the Hak.

"What was his species?"

"A Hak. Extremely dangerous, horribly complex."

"George was just scared and sick."

"George?"

"Yes. George. Everyone deserves a name." Kathryn laid her head back down and tried to curl up. The Doctor looked at her leg, the odd way it was moving drawing his attention.

"Kathryn!" he said sharply. "Your leg's been dislocated!"

"I'll live. Besides, it will give Whiting a badly needed head start."

"Robert Whiting? The twitchy geneticist?" The Doctor couldn't picture him doing something as illegal as creating an animal without a permit. "Why would he do a daft thing like that?"

"Heroes make people do very stupid things."

The Doctor gave her a look, wondering if she was hearing him correctly. "Kathryn, you need to let me fix your leg," he told her certain she was delirious from pain.

"I got it."

Kathryn sat up, struggling. The Doctor looked at her sternly. "Broken bones are one thing; dislocated limbs you need outside help on. Hold onto the Hak."

"To George."

"Fine. Whatever. Hold onto George's body."

Kathryn did as she was bidden. The Doctor grabbed a firm hold of her leg and pulled it out, and then popped it back in to its place.

Kathryn never made a sound. "There now. You should be able to walk," the Doctor told her cheerfully.

Kathryn pulled herself up, ignoring his offered hand. "I need to find Whiting." She swayed slightly. The Doctor grabbed her, fearing she would topple.

"No, what you need to do is get to Medical. Your friend George has infected a good portion of the students, and we need to find a cure."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows when Kathryn grinned down at the Hak. "See there? We both cause problems." She brushed the Doctor away and crawled out the window he'd come in by.

* * *

At Medical, the place was swarming with people. Sick patients, frantic physicians, worried friends, and other faculty were everywhere. Kathryn pulled out the bottle of liquid and the green pills. "I'm going to find Whiting."

"Kathryn, I don't want you going off on a revenge hunt," the Doctor told her sternly. "You're going to stay here and help me with this." He looked at it. "What is that again?"

"Energy and herbs. Cure all, like…like penicillin. Just clean the wounds with the blue bottle and give them two green pills."

"Why would you put energy in with herbs from your greenhouse?"

Kathryn blinked. "Just because I can heal instantly doesn't mean that others can. Might as well get something good out of it."

"That's the second time you've said that," the Doctor said.

"Because I mean it."

"Mean what?"

Kathryn just looked at him, then turned off to the side. She walked away into the mass of people, making tracks for the one with the badly injured man. The Doctor had started after her when Maria Ruiz walked up.

"Good; you're here," she said, looking him in the eye. It almost sounded like an accusation. "The infection has mutated."

The Doctor's eyebrows went up. "How?"

"It's gone airborne," Maria said, worry tingeing her voice. "We'd move the patients into quarantine, but there's already too many. That's why I asked Ybardolaza to put up the quarantine shield around the area; we can't have this spreading."

She looked after Kathryn. "Does your friend know what she's doing?"

"Yes."

Maria gave the Doctor a quick glance. "As long as she doesn't hurt Whiting with whatever she's using. Though, I'm willing to use anything about now."

"She's at Whiting's bed?" the Doctor said. Without saying goodbye to Maria, the Doctor walked over.

"…and so now he's dead," Kathryn told Whiting as she put more of her medicine on another piece of gauze.

"Dead?" Whiting had disgusting fuchsia boils on his skin and rather nasty bite marks on his face and shoulder. Kathryn was none to gently cleaning the wounds, but she was helping. "I've been researching the Hak my entire life, and you killed it?"

"You cut corners, stupid," she said, her voice oddly compassionate. "I won't pretend to understand resurrecting extinct animals, but leaving a horrifying disease in the DNA is an obvious 'do not do.'" Kathryn gave the Doctor an inscrutable look, obviously knowing that he could hear her. She turned back to Whiting. "Heroes are never all you think they are. They're not worth compromising yourself for."

Whiting kept staring at Kathryn, looking confused behind his open but clean wounds. "Even with a chance like that?"

"Especially with a chance like that," Kathryn answered firmly. "You can't afford to fake anything, or push anything, or create something about yourself—or him—that isn't real. It's deadly, stupid, and painful. Heroes are never worth it."

The Doctor didn't really like where the conversation was going, even though he wasn't really sure where that was. "Kathryn, I need to talk to you for a moment."

She ignored him, instead turning to Maria Ruiz. She had taken the bottle Kathryn had been holding. "It's an energy-plant mix," Kathryn explained. "Follow it up with two of these." Kathryn handed Maria the pill bottle. "You're going to need a plant from the Refti strain of Antrarus, commonly called a Plaw. Get the roots and powder them. I personally am going to need a small, well equipped lab, some solar cells, and a scalpel. Sharp as you can get it, no laser ones."

Maria looked warily at Kathryn. "How do we know this will work?"

"Did before. Will again."

"The plant you mentioned…it's highly poisonous. It would only serve to kill everyone faster."

Kathryn shook her head. "It isn't when you mix it first with heat energy and then with a balanced mixture of sound and light."

"Where are we going to get that?" Maria asked.

Kathryn blinked. "From me."

* * *

The Doctor watched from the doorway as Kathryn set up the space. She had a distillery, liquid nitrogen packs, a Bunsen burner with a ring stand and several flasks and beakers. However, right now she was standing next to a much larger beaker, somewhere over 750 mL. She'd rolled back her left sleeve and was rubbing a numbing agent on her arm.

"Kathryn, what are you doing?"

"Drawing blood."

The Doctor's voice rose slightly. "Use a needle."

"Not fast enough, and I hate taking them out."

"Why?"

"My skin crawls up them, incorporates it into the rest of my body. It's like ripping off a finger when I take them out."

The Doctor frowned. "Is that why you don't like needles?"

"Among other reasons, yes." She looked nodded at her bag in the corner. "I have a stick of wood in the outside pocket. Grab it for me."

The Doctor searched. He pulled out a test tube with a glob of something on the bottom.

"What's this?"

"A sample I took of the disease when I first was helping out," Kathryn said. "However, now that it's mutated into an airborne rather than blood borne illness, it's sort of useless. Just get me the wood."

The Doctor stuck the tube in his pocket and dug some more. He found a stick of redwood bark and handed it to Kathryn. After finishing using her teeth to tie a knot above her elbow, she made a fist. Taking the piece of wood she bit it hard, inhaled deeply, and pressed the scalpel into her arm. Starting up at the inside of her elbow, she drew the blade down her arm.

Dark purple blood started flowing immediately. Kathryn bit the wood harder against the pain, but kept going. Not wanting to make her do it again, or to make her feel she had to, the Doctor grabbed a second beaker for the drops not running down to her wrist.

After much too long, but really not long at all, Kathryn stopped. Taking a nearby piece of wet cloth, she wiped her arm with it to remove the excess blood. The Doctor was surprised to see no wound.

The Doctor grabbed Kathryn's wrist and pressed lightly against her arm, looking for some evidence of damage. There wasn't so much as a receding line to show for it. If he hadn't seen it and couldn't smell the blood in the beakers, he wouldn't have believed it.

"Kathryn, that is…" The Doctor sighed in defeat. "I don't know what it is."

Kathryn pulled away her arm, which he was still probing. "Will you stop doing that?" she snapped at him, her voice strained.

"Doing what?"

Kathryn clenched her jaw, refusing to answer. As she poured part of the blood into the distilling apparatus, the Doctor wondered if he'd been this difficult as a teenager. Certainly not.

Kathryn carefully tore a corner off of the pack of liquid nitrogen, about a liter bag. Quickly she poured it in with the blood and closed it off. She moved slightly, allowing the Doctor to peer through his glasses at the glass lab equipment as green mist flowed through the curling tube to drip into an Erlenmeyer flask at the far end.

"I don't get it."

"I'm extracting heat," Kathryn explained. "I don't understand how, but I know that I store energy in my body, which I figured included my blood. So, going on the theory that my blood holds the same sorts of energy I see—heat, light, sound, and mental—I just had to see if I could extract it. The liquid nitrogen, being the coldest thing that at least I know of, forces a sort of reverse boil and forces the heat out of my blood. The energy is carried by the now gaseous nitrogen through the distilling tube and into the flask, which you'll notice I have a Bunsen burner under. It has to stay hot, or the energy will escape."

"Kathryn that's brilliant."

"Thank you for validating me," she commented dryly.

The Doctor ignored the tone. "How long have you been doing this?"

"I started experimenting after I met Ace," she answered. "I wanted to know why the laser didn't kill me, but I got sidetracked."

"You've been at this for two months?" The Doctor looked up at her. He sighed, taking his glasses off and rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Kathryn, we need to talk."

"I have work to do," she told him firmly. "You should go and see if you can be of any use out there. If it's not out of your way—" her voice dripped with sarcasm—"perhaps you could check on the already treated patients. I need to know if I need higher concentrations of this stuff."

Left with no choice, the Doctor left Kathryn attaching the solar cells to a sponge.

* * *

"How's it going Maria?" the Doctor asked the woman. She looked up from her own set of petri dishes.

"Not well. That stuff your friend had slowed things, but it hasn't stopped anything."

"How so?"

"It seemed to be working at first, but then the pathogen mutated. Seems it didn't quite kill it all the way, at least in most of them."

"Most?" the Doctor questioned.

"We doled out those green aspirin that she left behind, but they ran out too fast. I'm working with samples from those cured and seeing if I can't pull anything from that." She glared at the dishes. "I don't think it will though; it changes before I have a chance to look at it. If I could get a steady, live base sample, I might be able to pull something, but with the Hak dead and everyone sick with different stages, it's hopeless."

The Doctor paused. "Maybe not." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the test tube. "Give this a shot."

Maria took it from him. "A clean sample?" She grinned at him. "Doctor, you are fantastic. Here; you can give me a hand."

* * *

Kathryn looked up when someone stepped in with a box full of brown powder. She nodded, taking it from him.

"Good," she said, weighing it in her hand. "This will be wonderful. I'll be done in a quarter hour. How are things looking?"

"Not very well," the man told her. "The virus is mutating. People have started dying from it." He paused. "Whiting was the first to go. Too far infected, even when we brought him in. He said to tell you that you were right; it wasn't worth it." The man peered at Kathryn. "Do you know what he meant?"

"Yes," Kathryn answered quietly. "I know what he meant."

The man nodded and left. Kathryn looked up and out of the door. Her throat tightened.

She could see the Doctor working with that girl from earlier, Maria. She was fairly young, still pretty, and obviously intelligent. She said something and the Doctor laughed. Kathryn's fingers tightened around the box as her hearts dropped.

"No. They aren't worth it," she repeated to herself.

* * *

*Constructive criticism welcome, praise happily accepted, flames not wanted*


	8. Chapter 7

"There it is," Maria said, pointing at the image of one of the bacteria. "That's what does it. See? It shifted again."

"It feeds off of heat," the Doctor observed. "The heat opens it and it absorbs the nutrients with it and grows." His face showed that something had clicked. "That's why Kathryn's energy-plant mixture works. The heat forces the thing to go into feeding mode, then whatever that plant is kills it. But using sound and light must bind it all together somehow so that the plant enzyme doesn't go through the rest of the blood. By the time it's finished its job, the potency is lost and the worst it could do would make you ache slightly, and even that would pass."

"That's a smart friend you've got."

"She's not bad, yeah," the Doctor confessed. "That's part of the reason she's traveling with me."

"Sweet girl?"

"Yes."

"Then why is she so upset with you?"

The Doctor looked at Maria. "How much did Ybardolaza tell you?"

"The basics. She's technically a Jahra, but she absorbs energy from everywhere on a lethal scale." Maria hesitated. "Why is a Jahra traveling the universe in the Blue Box?"

The Doctor smiled. "Most Jahra—in fact all the ones I know of—are just fancy video cameras, designed to record someone's life while living as them, then have those memories downloaded by the Rahki. Files are deleted and they start again as someone else."

"I take it Kathryn isn't quite like that."

"No. She was never even aware that she was a Jahra, unlike the rest of them. Until four months ago, she was a girl living on Earth. It's incredibly puzzling, because there's no good reason I can see that she's built that way."

Maria's eyebrows lifted. "Four months back…everything changed for her then? No goodbyes or anything?"

The Doctor blinked. "No. I suppose not."

"Then she really has nothing except you."

The Doctor shrugged. "I guess so, yeah." He frowned and looked at Maria warily. "What are you driving at?"

"She's not exactly pleased with you, and I think I know why."

"Enlighten me."

"Have you met clones before? I mean just straight up clones, not Jahra."

The Doctor nodded. "Yes."

"How did you view it? The raging debate at the time about whether or not they were real people." She rushed to explain further. "I'm not talking about the ones that were carbon copies, memories and everything. I'm talking about the ones that were made as blank slates to serve as machines."

"It bothered me," the Doctor said after a moment of thought. "They were perfectly real, had the capacity to think of things on their own…" His voice trailed off. "I see where you're leading me," he said shortly. Maria smiled.

"Good. Now I'm going to get that medicine from your friend so I can treat people and make more en mass. Then you're going to talk to her."

"I tried that."

"Did you ask or tell?" Maria asked with a smile, knowing the answer.

* * *

Kathryn glanced up as the door opened. "Ruiz! Your bottles of cleaner are in that box there; I'm making your follow up plant pills now. They have to be given one right after the next, no time between."

Maria nodded. "Thank you for the help. I can take the powder and have others finish making them."

Kathryn looked up at her. "You're sure?"

Maria smiled. "I think we've been at the job long enough."

Kathryn pushed the green powder over. Maria set it in with the liquid medicine and picked up the whole thing. She left the room, calling to the students still standing as she left.

Kathryn sat down in a wheeled chair, sighing. Now what?

There was a tap on the door and Kathryn looked up as the Doctor stuck his head in. "Do you mind if we chat?"

"Yes," she said bluntly. "I do."

The Doctor paused, confused. "Could you translate that into an action?"

"I mind very much speaking to someone who continues to view me as an in-progress experiment."

"I don't—"

"Don't you dare deny it!" Kathryn snapped. "I'm not an experiment. If I'm a puzzle and that's the end of it, then bye. Have a nice life, because you'll have to grab one of your college friends to travel with; I will not go with you."

"I know that Kathryn. You're your own person, not a test subject."

"Then why have you always considered me as one?" she accused. "Ever since that first stupid day, you've kept reminding me about how I shouldn't exist, how they don't make them like me, how you want to know why and how I work, what I am, what I do, where I'm from, and I won't live with it anymore; I won't! I know all of that Doctor; that's _what_ I am now. But's it's not _who_ I am." She blinked, eyes stinging. "Why can't you let me be a who instead of a what?"

"I've got several hundred years of preconceptions Kathryn," the Doctor said bluntly. "I was there when the Rahki were ordered off time travel and told they had to figure out a better way than messing things up. I was there when they brought the proposal of the Jahra clones to the Council. I was in my…fourth regeneration at the time, still young. In my mind, Jahra are nothing more than spruced up recorders, no real feelings or lives of their own."

"You of all people should know better than to hold to preformed notions."

"You're right; I should," the Doctor freely admitted before defending himself. "But I'm also worried for a friend and—yes—a man trying to understand a new puzzle." He thought for a moment. "Then again, you'd be difficult enough to figure out even if you were a generic person from Planet X. We should go there. Wonderful place Planet X. Sort of an end of the line place, but pleasant. Good views."

"You wouldn't rather take someone more suited to the job?"

"Job?"

Kathryn's face softened slightly, as though she knew what she was about to say would hurt him. "Whiting was asking me how we met, wanted to know about the Temporal Elite. He thought it was an invitation only group, and then you chose your travel companions from there. When he figured out it was a mix of chance and proving yourself…I think he decided to cut corners before you left."

The Doctor was very still as that piece of news sunk in. "How does this tie in with traveling?"

"His—and everyone else's—questions made me think."

"What about?"

"Why are you traveling with me when you could travel with anyone?" Kathryn asked. "I'm no one. Anyone at this school could survive better than I do. They're older, smarter, past the stupid teenage immaturity, and incredibly willing to go wherever you lead. You're sending me through impromptu school, I'm fifteen, and I tend to wander off and cause problems. So why do you travel with me?"

The Doctor could tell that this wasn't a question brought on by his actions earlier. She'd probably been thinking about it for some time, but now she could actually bring it up. Kathryn really meant what she was asking.

The Doctor reached into a breast pocket, searching for a few moments before producing a single, simple, silver Yale key. He held it out to Kathryn. Her eyes widened.

"You've earned it Kathryn."

"Is that…"

"I was going to give it to you sooner or later. Just…don't lose it. Hard to copy."

Kathryn took the TARDIS Key from the Doctor. She looked at it for a moment before clipping it to the same necklace that held her burnt out DNA transporter.

There was a slightly awkward silence. "So we're good now?" Kathryn asked suddenly. The Doctor nodded.

"Yeah, I think you've covered everything. Except…" He gave Kathryn a disturbed look. "Don't go experimenting with your blood anymore. Or if you are going to, because now that I've told you not to you will, let me know."

She glared at him and he held up his hands. "Not like that. You haven't learned as much about DNA and energy and lab testing as I know. Well, you're ahead of me on the energy spectrum but the other stuff you don't know yet. If you're going to be messing about, I want to at least know that you might blow us up even if you don't let me help."

Kathryn thought about that a moment. "Deal."

There was a loud rap on the door and Maria came in. She was grinning widely as she looked at Kathryn.

"It's working! I don't understand half of the why, but it really does work."

"Of course it does," Kathryn said matter-of-factly. "Took me long enough to come up with it. If it didn't I'd be worried."

"Any chance you could stick around here?" Maria asked. "You've proven yourself pretty useful in a pinch."

"What, and live in a linear style again? No," Kathryn shook her head. "It's more fun never knowing what's going on or when you are."

Maria smiled. "Only because you're so young. When you're ancient like me you'll want a steady routine."

Kathryn smiled in response. "Oh, I'm never going to get old."

The Doctor looked down at Kathryn. Somehow the statement sounded like less of a joke and more like a prediction. He shook off the idea.

"Well, if there's nothing else you plan to unleash, I think we need to be going."

Maria gave him a look. "You haven't been here very long."

"You haven't even given your lecture yet!" Kathryn protested. The Doctor raised his eyebrows.

"I thought you wanted out. Too many people."

"I wanted to listen in."

The Doctor ginned. "Maybe you should go to Linguistics instead, give one of your own."

Kathryn was floored. She blinked a few times before bursting out laughing. "Me, teach?" Kathryn snickered. "I think you cracked your skull on something."

She left, still cackling at the notion.

* * *

Kathryn and the Doctor left three days later. He had given multiple talks and taught several classes, one of which Kathryn fell asleep in. She'd protested later that it he'd presented it badly and she'd used the concept to fix TARDIS just the other day. The Doctor hadn't had a return argument, but managed to get his own back when he sent her to a class about the origin of language and told them she was teaching without telling her. She pulled it together in the five minutes she had to prepare.

Kathryn's disposition had improved over the three days. She seemed freer, less on guard the past days. The Doctor was certain it had something to do with the conformation of her 'position.'

Kathryn pulled out the lanyard one of the recovering students had made her. Her TARDIS Key was dangling at the end of it. She paused on her way to unlock the door, then finished and they stepped in, waving at those seeing them off.

The Doctor looked at Kathryn, reading her expression. "What's wrong?"

Kathryn hesitated another moment. "How many people have had this Key? I mean, how many of your friends received a copy."

"Dozens."

"What happened to them?"

"I live a very long time Kathryn," he said, hands in his pockets. "They die out."

"All of them?"

"No. Some leave."

"Do you ever send any away?"

"I have. Not many. Only ones I know would be happier staying behind."

Kathryn was shocked. "Why would anyone be happy anywhere else after living in the TARDIS?"

The Doctor smiled at her expression. "Well, sometimes they find someone else to make their hero."

"They get married," Kathryn translated.

"That's the general idea." He nodded at the TARDIS. "Now throw the switch. I want to see if your flight's any smoother after my classes."

"No."

"We haven't gone anywhere yet!"

"Don't need to," Kathryn said as she grabbed the starter. "I do it on purpose."

The Doctor laughed as the white vortex rafting commenced.

* * *

*Constructive criticisim welcome, praise happily accepted, flames not wanted*


End file.
